The subject invention relates to a printing system. More particularly, it relates to a system for printing a mail piece which includes at least one printed sheet and an envelope printed with a destination address, and including a barcode.
As the United States Postal Service, together with the postal services of other countries around the world, moves towards automated mail handling in an effort to contain cost while processing an ever increasing amount of mail, automated equipment which sorts and processes mail on the basis of machine readable postal codes, such as the "zip code" used in the United States, plays an ever more significant role. In the United States, Postal Service regulations provide for a "Postnet" barcode which represents the five or nine digit zip code of the destination address in machine readable form.
Systems have been used or proposed to meet the need to produce mail pieces imprinted with the Postnet barcode, and to enable mailers to obtain the benefit of the discounts offered for such mail. One such system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,907; to: Eisner et al; issued: Aug. 22, 1989. This patent discloses a system for printing envelopes with addresses including barcodes. The system is controlled by a computer which includes software for converting a zip code included in the address into barcode form and adding this barcode representation to the material to be printed on the envelope.
Another system for printing envelopes with addresses including barcode is disclosed in commonly assigned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. #420,039; filed Mar. 12, 1990, which describes a system for printing mail pieces which includes a printer for printing sheets and envelope forms and a folder-sealer mechanism for folding the envelope form around the sheets to form a mail piece and a computer; based control system for controlling the printer and folder. In the system of this application, when an operator is creating a file of letters to be printed the operator may designate a selected field within each letter as containing the destination address. The system will then extract the information in this designated field and with it create a new page of material to be printed on the envelope form, and if the address within the designated field includes a zip code the system will add a corresponding barcode to the new page. The system then adds this new page to the file before the file is output. This system, however, requires specially developed software and hardware.
To date, despite extensive efforts, no system has been developed which is suitable for the small to medium size user, such as a small business or professional office; which has an existing system for generating mailings of a few to a few hundred mail pieces for printing by a conventional computer outprint printer, such as a laser printer.
Thus, it is an object of the subject invention to provide a system for printing mail pieces including sheets and envelopes which will be suitable for the small to medium volume user.